Marinas of the Year

This September saw another rewarding slew of awards for UK TransEurope Marinas members at the Southampton Boat Show, as The Yacht Harbour Association (TYHA) staff announced the much anticipated “Marinas of the Year”.

For the third year in the row, Emsworth Yacht Harbour, in Chichester Harbour, claimed the award for coastal marinas under 250, with Poole Quay Boat Haven runner up.

As a team, we feel really privileged to have won this prestigious award three years in a row, however, without the loyalty and backing of our valued customers, it really would not have been possible.

Emsworth Yacht Harbour is a Five Gold Anchor marina in an area of outstanding natural beauty, and whatever the weather throws at us, we enjoy the surroundings daily, the outlook is different every day of the week. The marina is situated on a public footpath, and we have many members of the public walk through, either on their way to the restaurant or just going for a wander around the peninsula. There is a large variety of wildlife in and around the marina, egrets are regular visitors, as are kingfishers and coots, foxes are often caught on the CCTV at night, and we even have a seal on occasion.

We have a very experienced yard team who work extremely hard lifting and launching boats, our maintenance team endeavour to keep the premises neat and tidy for all to enjoy.  The marina office is open 7 days a week giving our customers access to our many services, or sometimes they just pop in for a cup of coffee and a chat.

We do try to run at least 3 events per year, in the past these have included a flare amnesty, a beer festival and family fun days – all of which are open to the public.  Our annual summer party is restricted to berth holders only, generally there is a theme to the party and our berth holders are very keen to out do each other with often quite crazy outfits – many of our events are a platform for raising money for charity.  In the autumn we hold a Laying Up Supper, this is a much smaller event but still very well attended.  The mulled wine at the Christmas event is legendary!!

In the domain of marinas of over 250 berths, the award was won by the very popular Royal Quays Marina for no less than the fourth time. Marina manager Matt Simms commented:

Once again, receiving this award is a huge boost for the marina team. It is wonderful to have our efforts recognised and we are proud to put the River Tyne on the boating map of Britain. Being part of TransEurope Marinas is one way we can we can offer our boaters another little extra benefit. We are so grateful for the continuing support from our fabulous berth holders and visitors.